Turahn Jenkins, Esq.
Turahn is a founding member of ALI and serves as vice president.
Turahn was born in Pittsburgh and grew up in Monroeville, PA. He is the youngest of 4 children, and has 3 older sisters. He resides in Churchill, PA with his wife, Di'Ray, and they have one daughter and one son. His hobbies include traveling, photography and spending time with his family. In addition to his legal experience listed below, Turahn was also an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne University School of Law and taught a Public Defender Law Clinic.
School and Experience
Turahn graduated from Gateway Senior High School in 1995 and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1999.
After college, Turahn began his career in social work. He worked at Allegheny Children’s Initiative, Citizen's Care, Inc., and Turtle Creek Valley MH/MR as a Therapeutic Staff Support, specializing primarily in in-house and school based therapy for youth and adolescents.
In the fall of 2001, Turahn enrolled at Duquesne University School of Law and then completed judicial externships in both the U.S. District Court of Western Pennsylvania, with the Honorable Ralph Cindrich, as well as the Superior Court of Pennsylvania with the Honorable Maureen Lally-Green. Additionally, he studied abroad at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, China. Also while in law school, he served in the Pittsburgh Public Schools as a tutor for 5th and 7th grade students. In June of 2004, he earned a Juris Doctorate.
After receiving his license to practice law, Turahn started his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Allegheny County Office of the District Attorney. He handled a wide spectrum of cases ranging from low level misdemeanors to Criminal Homicide. He gained both non-jury and jury trial experience, worked closely with law enforcement, and developed a reputation for fairness and integrity. Turahn left the office in October of 2008 to pursue a career in private practice.
During this time as a sole practitioner, his practice focused primarily on Criminal Defense. Turahn has represented clients in all stages of the criminal justice system in both Allegheny County and surrounding counties.
Accomplishments
In February of 2013, Turahn was hired as the Deputy of Pre-Trial Division for the Allegheny County Office of the Public Defender. He was instrumental in several changes at the Office of the Public Defender's Office. One of which was the practice of screening all cases for incarcerated clients following their preliminary hearings, and filing bond motions when appropriate to get them released from the jail.
In January of 2016, he was promoted to Chief Deputy Director of the Office of the Public Defender. While in this role, Turahn continued to have an eye towards change and took steps towards criminal justice reform. To name just a few, the Office of the Public Defender now files Motions to Terminate Probation for clients that remain supervised despite paying off outstanding restitution balances and remaining gainful and productive citizens. Additionally, under his vision, the office now has social workers on staff to assist clients with coordinating resources in a more holistic approach to criminal defense. Lastly, the office now has attorneys present at Pittsburgh Municipal Court for preliminary arraignments at the time in which magistrates first assesses bail. This is the first time in the history of the office, and it affords citizens access to counsel at such a critical stage in the process.
In July of 2018, Turahn left the Office of the Public Defender to pursue a career in politics, running to be the District Attorney of Allegheny County. Consistent with his life’s work, he ran on a platform of criminal justice reform with the hopes of one restructuring our criminal justice system in our city and county. With a heart for fairness and equality, the overall message of his campaign was a vision of justice for all people. While unsuccessful, campaign spread great awareness and furthered the movement towards criminal justice reform in this area.
Back in private practice, Turahn continues to represent clients in all stages in the criminal justice system. He also continues to spread his message of justice while participating on panel discussions, as well as speaking engagements at local schools and universities.